My Most Memorable Year
by mina.jx
Summary: Slight crossover with Dancing With the Stars. Jace has made it to week four of the competition, Most Memorable Year. Clary, professional partner and lifetime friend, doesn't know what to expect. All she knows is that it's going to be an emotional week. Read the authors note to help fully understand the story. Light Clace.


**Hello guys! This is my first time writing any type of fanfiction, so I apologize if it's rough around the edges! If you have ANY feedback that could help me, please don't be afraid to leave it in the reviews.**

 **So this is a cross between Dancing With the Stars and TMI. To FULLY understand this oneshot, please go to YouTube and search "Lindsey Sterling and Mark Ballas Waltz". This is where I got my inspiration from. Also if you have any oneshot ideas leave them in the reviews too! It may take some time for me to get to them though, because I have finals coming up.**

 **Enough of my babbling, please enjoy the oneshot! xx**

Most memorable year week was always the week of emotions. Tuesday morning, they sat on the floor of the studio. Feet touching, Clary asked what Jace's most memorable year is. He sat for a minute, thinking before replying. "I think everyone thinks that it's the year the band got discovered, or the first time we had a sold-out tour, but it's far from that." He paused and looked into her eyes. "My most memorable year is 2016, the year your dad passed."

Clary couldn't hide her shock, she gasped, and tears came to her eyes. Jace continued talking for the camera crew. "Valentine Morgenstern was more than just you and Jon's dad, he was mine too. Growing up my dad wasn't around much, he was always working to accommodate the lifestyle we had. Without really knowing it, he filled the role that my father left, and has been there ever since." Clary's sniffles cut through the room, and the screen flashed to her confessional.

"My father had a passion for being a fighter. He was so good at what he did, and his dream was to open his own gym to train kids who wanted to go into the profession. But then his little girl started asking for ballet lessons, so he gave up his dream and took up an office job." Clary smiled through her tears at the memory. Jace, sitting next to her, decided to keep the conversation going.

"Val was diagnosed with cancer in 2015. At the time, Jon and I were on tour, and every time we came back he was worse. And then finally the realization hit all of us that he wasn't going to get better. It was so hard, to watch someone deteriorate right before your eyes. I remember being angry all of the time. Weeks on tour were so hard for me. After we had a show, I would go back to my hotel room or the tour bus and drink myself into oblivion. It took me a while to realize that what I was doing wasn't helping, so I got myself together before we went back home again."

Pictures of their family flashed across the screen before Clary's voice was heard again. "The last moments of my dad's life were some of the best moments. We were all sitting around his bed, holding his hand and laughing about stories about him. And before we knew it, we were crying, and all the bitterness and pain just washed away. Because rather than being angry at the world for taking someone we all loved so much away, we were so grateful for what we had."

Video of the rehearsal from the week were edited together with soft music over them. The music stopped and a clip of Clary and Jace was seen. "I don't want you to choreograph this dance for me," He told Clary, "I want it to be choreographed for us. For your mom, for Jon. This isn't just my most memorable year, it's yours too"

The audience could be heard awing, and the weekly package faded from the screen. Jace could been seen in a fitted black suit, with Valentine's favourite tie, and his favourtie hat on. Clary wore an emerald green dress, something Valentine loved seeing her in because of how well it complimented her.

While she held a red balloon, the music started, and she let go of the balloon. For Clary, she had never been so emotional during a dance before. She let her mind wander and her body take her through the movements. Jace knew how hard this was going to be for the two of them, so he tried his best to lead Clary through the dance. Suddenly the music faded until it stopped. Clary spun out of Jace's arms to the center of the ballroom, the spotlight on her. She turned her head to face the camera and choked back a sob.

Slowly, the music started again and Jace came back into the camera frame. They danced back to where they started on the ballroom, where Jace pulled away to represent Valentine's death. The screen behind Clary it up, to show Jace's shadow following Clary's movements and bring the red balloon back down to her.

As the audience clapped, Clary was an emotional mess. She made her way to the center of the ballroom and squatted down while she cried. Tom came over to give her a hug and whispered something in her ear before he handed her over to Jace. The camera panned to Jocelyn and Jon who were holding each other while clapping. Tears were visible on their faces, but nevertheless they had small smiles as well.

The judge's comments were everything Clary expected, especially Len's, because she knew she hadn't put at much Viennese Waltz in the choreography to appease Len. Regardless, she was happy with the results and was just waiting for their scores in the skybox.

"Jace, Clary, that was just absolutely beautiful." Erin told them, "Tell me, what was going through your minds during that? How did you hold yourselves together?" Jace looked down at Clary and squeezed her hip slightly before he answered.

"I knew this week was going to be hard for us, but I didn't realize how hard it was until I saw the edited video package." He wiped his eyes, "When we started dancing, I could feel the emotion that was pouring out of us and for the first time in a while, I felt like everything was going to be alright."

Erin gave a small, sad smile. "What about you Clare? I've never seen you so emotionally invested in a dance before."

"Well," She began, "We all saw how I almost broke down in the middle of our dance. I was shocked when Jace told me what his most memorable year was. I also felt it would be a good way to open myself up to the world. I try to live a very private life because of what my brother does, but today it felt good to let myself go. I'm glad I was able to do this with Jace."

Erin gave Clary's arm a slight squeeze. "Listen guys I mean it, such a beautiful dance. Great gob to you two. Let's get your scores."

The screen split into two parts and the announcer started talking. "Carrie Ann Inaba,"

Carrie Ann pulled up her paddle in front of her. "Ten!" she screamed.

"Len Goodman," he said.

Len brought up his paddle. "Nine."

"Bruno Tonioli," he finished.

Bruno put on some dramatics before finally bringing up his paddle. "TEN!"

Jace and Clary hugged each other while Erin spoke. "That's a twenty-nine out of thirty for Jace and Clary. Don't forget if you want to see these two on your screens next week, make sure you send your votes in. Back to you Tom."

When the cameras were finally off them Clary looked up at Jace and spoke. "Thank you for letting me do this. I'm not only proud of you for your performance this week, but I'm proud of how well we were able to tell this story and pay tribute to my dad."

Jace grinned and placed a kiss on the crown of her head. "Anything for you Clary. I love you."

"I love you too."


End file.
